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Cricket Coach 2009
Instruction Manual
© 2009 Rockingham Software Ltd
www.cricketcoachgame.com
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Disclaimer
This product is not endorsed by any player or any team. Player data, statistical
information, financial data and contract details are not guaranteed to be accurate.
The match results are partly influenced by skill ratings but performances do not
purport to represent the actual abilities of any real life players or teams. All such
information has been created solely for the game and does not reflect the views
of the developer or publisher.
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Introduction
Thank you for purchasing Cricket Coach 2009, we hope you will get many hours
of enjoyment out of the game.
The aim of this manual is not to cover every single feature in the game, rather it
is an attempt to guide you through the most important aspects of Cricket Coach
2009 to allow you to quickly get an understanding of how to play the game.
If you have any questions not covered in this manual, or you have a suggestion
for a future version of the game, you can find the development team at
www.cricketcoachgame.com. On that website, you will find all the latest news,
downloads and have the opportunity to join the community forums.
Summary of the Game
Cricket Coach 2009 allows you to take control of a large selection of countries or
their various domestic teams. The difficulty of the game is dictated by the scale of
challenge you decide to take – starting as Australia will provide a vastly different
in-game experience over managing relative minnows Bangladesh.
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Installing the Game
Your first task is to install the game. You need to launch the game installer, this is
done by either inserting the game CD and following the on-screen instructions (in
the case of the CD edition). Or by double clicking on a downloaded copy of the
game.
A dialog will appear that looks something like this.
Follow the on-screen instructions to install the game onto your computer. This
should only take a few moments. This installation process only needs to be
performed the first time you play the game. Once installed the game is available
to play at any time.
Running the Game
Once the game has been successfully installed you can launch the game by
clicking on the relevant menu item in your computers 'Start' menu. Whatever
operating system you are using this is likely to be accessed by clicking on the
icon in the bottom left hand corner of your screen.
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Now select either 'Programs' or 'All Programs' (depending on your operating
system). You will see a list of programs that are currently installed on your
computer. Navigate down to the section named 'Cricket Coach 2009'. You will
see something similar to this.
To launch the game click either 'Cricket Coach 2009 (play full screen)' which will
launch the game as a full screen program. Or click 'Cricket Coach 2009 (play in
windowed mode) which will launch the game in a window.
Note: To launch the game in a window your screen resolution needs to be at
least 1024 x 768. Trying to launch in a window using a lower resolution will either
fail, or succeed but lead to only a certain amount of the window being visible.
Note: Please see the troubleshooting section if you are using a netbook and
want to launch the game, some users have discovered how to run using a
window using these machines.
The game should now start. If the game does not start when you click on one of
the two links then please see the Troubleshooting section of this manual.
Otherwise move onto the next section of the manual.
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Troubleshooting
Note: If you can successfully launch the game then you can skip this section.
How to run using a Samsung NC10 Netbook (may also work on similar
devices).
This device has a small screen which natively doesn't support the 1024x768
resolution required for Cricket Coach 2009. However there is a screen mode
which allows the game to be played on the device.
For full details please see this page on the Samsung website:
http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/pc-peripherals/notebook-computers/nseries/NP-NC10-KA02UK/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=support#
Note: Something similar may well be able to be done on similar Netbooks to
allow the game to be played.
For more information and solutions to problems please visit our forum at
http://forum.cricketcoachgame.com or contact us via our website at
http://www.cricketcoachgame.com
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Getting Started with Cricket Coach 2009
After the game has loaded you will be presented with the game setup screen.
The options available to you here are:
New Game
− New Career Mode Game
Start a new career as coach of a team.
− International Series Mode
Run a series of matches between two countries
Game Editor
− Player Editor
Launch the player database editor
− Team Editor
Launch the team database editor
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− Ground Editor
Launch the ground database editor
− Tour Editor
Launch the tour editor
− Competition/Format Editor
Adjust the name of competitions.
Load Game
Clicking 'Load Game' launches a dialog from which you can launch a previously
saved career game. Select the game you wish to load from the drop down menu,
then click 'Load'.
Note: To load a previously saved International Series mode game go into the
International Series mode and click 'Load Series'.
Exit
Quit Cricket Coach 2009 and go and play some real cricket!
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Cricket Coach 2009 – Using the data editors
A series of data editors built into Cricket Coach 2009 allow you to edit the
cricketing data that the game uses to influence results. It is possible to edit
players (and indeed create new players and delete players). It is also possible to
edit various details relating to the teams in the game and the competitions
featured in the game. It is also possible to edit data linked to the huge selection
of cricket grounds included in the game.
Note: It is important to note that when using the editor under some versions of
Windows (Vista and 7), you will need to launch the game using a user account
with administrative privileges for these editors to permanently save the data you
have changed. Right click and choose 'Run as Administrator' before playing the
game to ensure this.
Note: If you wish to leave an editor without saving the changes you have made
then hold down the left shift key as you click to leave a particular editor.
Using the each data editor is fairly straightforward and self explanatory. You will
have a series of what is known in the database world as records (players in the
case of the player editor). Click on one of these to bring up the data stored with
that record. Adjust the various text fields or sliders to manipulate the data. Click
on another record to save the changes to the previous record.
Note: Any changes made to the editor will only affect new games started after
the changes were saved. Existing saved game will not be affected in any way.
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International Series Mode
Setting up an International Series
The International Series Mode lets you create a series between two countries.
The series can either be a Test series, an ODI series, or a T20 series. All
countries available in the game can be chosen, even if in real life they aren't
eligible to play that form of cricket.
To begin choose which two sides are to face each other. The matches will be
played in the country specified in 'Select home country'.
If you wish to control one of the sides playing in the series then check the 'User
Controlled?' tick-box next to the country that you wish to control.
Next you need to decide what format of the game is going to be played during
this series. Choose either a Test series (5 days, 2 innings), a One Day series (50
overs a side), or a T20 series (20 overs per side).
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Once you have made these decisions click 'Add Match to Series Schedule' to
add a match to the series. You can have up to five matches per series.
If you wish to choose both team lineups for each game, irrelevant of whether you
are actually controlling that team in the match check 'Select both team lineups?'
tickbox.
You are able to change the ground that will stage each match by using the
dropdown list-box that appears next to each scheduled match.
When you have setup your series click 'Continue' to begin.
Loading a previously saved series
If you have previously played a series and saved it then you can continue the
series by clicking on 'Load Series'. Choose your game from the drop down menu
and click 'Load'. You will be taken to the point where you saved the series.
Playing an International Series
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An international series proceeds one match at a time. Click 'Continue' to move to
the next match in the series. Each match is completed before you are returned to
the International Series screen.
After each match various statistics are available. Using the buttons at the top of
the screen you can choose to view the series schedule (shown). Next to the
schedule button you can click to view averages and stats from the current series.
To the right of these options are buttons that show the overall statistics of games
played in the International Series mode since the statistics were last reset, and a
collection of records kept since the statistics were last reset.
Saving an International Series
Click 'Save Series' to save an International Series. This records the current state
of your series to your computer so you can return to it on a later date.
Saving to a web page/HTML
Click 'Output to HTML' to save a summary of your series to HTML format which
can be viewed using any web browser. Files are saved to your 'My
Documents\Cricket Coach 2009\Output' directory.
Reset All Stats
From time to time you may wish to reset all the statistics that have been stored
over time through the International Series mode. To do this click on the 'Reset All
Stats' button.
Note: This action is permanent, and cannot be undone. Once you have reset
stats there is no way to retrieve them.
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Career Mode
The career mode of the game puts you as the coach of a real life cricket team.
Your job is to lead them through each season making decisions that will hopefully
lead to a large amount of success.
Starting a new game
To start a new game at the beginning of the 2009 season, click the ‘New Career
Mode Game’ button. On choosing this mode you will be asked to create your
managerial profile. Here you can enter your name and then choose either a first
class team to coach or one of a large selection of countries.
Click on the 'Filter' dropdown list-box to change what teams you are currently
selecting from.
Click on the name of the team you wish to coach. Once you have done this the
'Continue' button will become active and you will be able to start your game.
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Before starting your game you can adjust various options which will affect your
experience of the career mode of the game.
Stop player retirements and ageing
This option will result in the game world standing still – no players will retire and
their ages will remain locked to their 2009 values. This options is particularly
useful if you prefer building up a team without the fear of players announcing
their retirements
Fictional player names
This will mean that the names of the players are completely randomised,
presenting a greater challenge as you will no longer be able to rely on familiar
names.
Stop Managerial Sackings
Tick this checkbox to stop any managers getting sacked during the career mode
of the game. You might choose this option if you are taking control of a weak
team that might take many seasons to turn into a great team. You might need to
go through a lot of poor seasons to really turn the team around. By turning
managerial sackings off you will avoid the risk of being sacked whilst you are
turning the fortunes of the team around.
Empty Indian Franchises
This option starts the game with empty Indian T20 franchises, without their
current real life squads. You might select this option if you wish to take a
franchise and build the whole team from scratch. If this option is selected then at
the first player auction each franchise will have a far larger budget.
Transfer Options
Normal Player Transfers – The game runs using a transfer system similar to
real life.
No First Season Transfers – The transfer system is similar to real life, but no
transfers will happen during the first season of the career game. You might
choose this option to ensure the squads for each team reflect reality correctly.
Not selecting this option might mean that some early season transfers move
players around creating a cricketing world that doesn't reflect current reality.
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No Transfers – Transfers are completed disabled. No transfers will occur during
the game.
Simulate Domestic Cricket In
These check boxes allow you to decide whether domestic cricket in each of the
major cricketing countries is simulated in your game. On very slow computers
you might wish to simulate cricket in only a few countries. This will speed the
game up a bit.
When you are happy with your choices, press the ‘continue’ button to start your
managerial career.
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Main Menu
The main menu is your ‘homepage’ throughout the game; from here you can
view at a glance your latest news items, details of your next match as well as
your position in currently active competitions.
Continuing the game
At any point during the game you can press the ‘Continue’ button to move
forward in the game ('Bowl' when viewing the match screen). Continuing the
game will move the simulation forward to the next stage of the game.
Note: You will only be allowed to continue if all the news items with decisions to
be made have been answered.
The game simulation is based on the real life calendar, so you will notice the
days passing by in the top left hand corner of the screen. Years in Cricket Coach
2009 are split into two, the northern hemisphere summer (April 1st – September
31st), and the southern hemisphere summer (October 1st – March 31st).
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News
All the important news items from the world of cricket that relate to you will
appear in your news. This will range from news of players being selected for
international duty to players being injured. If you want to go directly to a relevant
player profile - for example - from a news item, simply hover over the name
within the news body and you will notice the name will be underlined.
Clicking on the name will take you to the players' screen. Some news items might
require a response. For instance, you might be asked to confirm an international
touring party. You will not be allowed to continue the game until you have
responded either positively or negatively to the news item.
Jobs
In Cricket Coach 2009, you can apply for other management positions – whether
at a domestic or international post – when they become available. You can find a
list of available positions on the Jobs screen.
This screen outlines those positions that are no longer secure. You will come to
visit this screen frequently should your team not be performing well on the field! If
a position is listed as ‘Vacant’, you can apply for the position by clicking on the
team’s name, then clicking on the ‘Apply’ button located in the top right hand
corner of the screen. When applying for a job you have to bear in mind that the
chances of you getting the job depend on your reputation in the game. You won’t
stand much chance of getting the Australian manager’s job for example if you
have had one poor season at a Zimbabwean domestic side! If your application is
successful, you will be notified via the news. Should you opt to take the new job
you will be automatically resigned from your current job. If you get offered an
international manager’s job, you will also be forced to resign your domestic job
(should you have one).
If you accept a job with a team in a different hemisphere from the one currently
active, the game will switch to the auto simulate screen and return once the next
season begins.
Resign your current job
You can resign your current job by first visiting your profile screen (available by
clicking on your name at the top of the screen in many areas of the game), then
selecting the ‘Resign from job’ button.
Fast Forwarding/Going on holiday/Skipping to your next match
In Cricket Coach 2009, it is possible to go on holiday until your next match or
required input (for example, selecting an international squad). It is particularly
useful to jump to your next match if you are for example, managing an
international team and have several months before your next tour or tournament.
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To fast-forward to your next required action click the 'Fast Forward' button at the
bottom of the main screen.
Competitions – Getting Information
Each competition has its own 'screen' from which you can view a variety of
information such as the current league table, batting and bowling averages for
that competition, and details of fixtures and past results of matches relating to
that competition.
To quickly see information on a competition that your team is playing in you can
click on the relevant competition on the information area to the top right of your
screen. You will see listed a series of competitions that your team is entered into.
If you are coaching an English county for example you might see the County
Championship Division 1 listed, along with the one day league and T20
competition.
Often though you will wish to see information about a competition that your team
is not participating in. To do this click on the 'Domestic Comps' button on the left
hand side of your screen. You will see a list of countries, click on one of these to
see a list of domestic competitions running in that country. From this list select a
competition to view its information screen.
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Information is also available about international competitions such as the World
Cup. This is available through the 'International' button on the left hand side of
your screen. An information page about Test match and ODI series taking place
currently is also available here.
Note: To view information about a past Test series or ODI series click on
'International', then click 'Test Championship' or 'ODI Championship'. From there
you are able to view information on past series. More recent series still have their
information page available. Click on any series to find out if information is still
available.
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Club Management
Player Contracts and Transfers
As a manager you must always be on the lookout for new players to improve
your squad. In Cricket Coach 2009, you have two main periods in which you
should be active in the transfer market. For southern hemisphere clubs this
period occurs between 1st October and 1st November. For northern hemisphere
clubs this period occurs between 1st April and 1st May. The first five days of this
period is exclusively for extending contracts that are going to end this season.
After this ten-day period those players into their last season will be open to
approaches from other teams. You are free to extend the contract of any of your
players at any time – you can do this by going to their profile and choosing ‘Offer
new contract’ from the actions drop down menu. Of course, out of contract
players can be signed outside of the transfer window at any point – should you
have sufficient funds left over for the seasons wage budget.
To make an approach for a player not in your squad, first bring up their profile
screen, and then choose ‘Approach to sign’ from the actions drop down menu.
You might be informed that you are unable to sign the player at this time – should
this be the case, a reason will be given. You also have the option to release any
of your players. Be warned however that the board might opt to block the move
to release the player. Should this happen, the player is likely to suffer from a
serious decline in form and morale. They might even refuse to sign future
contracts. If you do release a player, you will be liable to pay 50% of their
remaining wages due on their contract.
Player Comparisons
In Cricket Coach 2009, it is possible to directly compare two players in the game
world. This will help you assess which is the better player, at a glance.
In order to do this, first select the player you wish to compare. Click the 'Actions'
button on their profile page, then choose 'Set as comparison player'. Then
navigate to the profile of the player you wish to compare them with – then simply
select “Compare player”, again from the 'Actions' drop down menu on their
profile.
Contract Negotiation Screen
Whether you are renewing a contract with an existing player or looking to sign a
new player, you will eventually have to negotiate a deal with the player. The
contract negotiations screen is the place to do this.
On this screen, the board will outline the maximum amount of money that you
can offer the player per season. If there is sufficient finances available to you, the
board will outline the maximum amount of money that you can offer the player for
his salary. It is important that you spend this money wisely – if you give players
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too much money, you might miss out on further signings later on in the transfer
window, as your wage budget for the season will be fully used.
You are also able to specify the length of the contract – this can range from
between one season and five seasons. Be careful not to offer an ageing player
too long a contract, just in case he should suffer from a decline in ability and be
on the team’s books for a great length of time.
Click on either the + or – arrows to alter the salary or the length of the contract.
Once you are happy with the offer you are making the player, press the ‘Make
Offer’ button. This offer will be sent to the player, who will consider the deal and
come back with a response via the news screen. If you wish to cancel the deal,
press the ‘Cancel Offer’ button. This will take you back to the player’s profile.
Replacing overseas players
If local transfer rules permit, in Cricket Coach 2009, you can replace overseas
players – for instance if they are called up for international duty unexpectedly and
will miss crucial periods of your domestic season. In order to do this, when
approaching another overseas player, you will be given the option to select the
overseas player you wish to replace.
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International Management
If you chose to coach a national side from the start, or you are fortunate enough
to be given the opportunity to coach internationally during your career, you will
face a whole new set of tasks and decisions.
When you are the coach of an international team it is your responsibility to pick
squads for forthcoming tournaments and series. You will be prompted to do this
via the news. Players can be added or removed from international squads from
the player profile actions menu – however the easiest way of doing this is to use
the country’s 'All Eligible Players' tab.
To add or remove a player from the current squad, right click on the player’s
name. Left clicking on the player’s name will take you to that player’s profile. To
filter the number of players on display, click on the ‘Filters’ button. From here you
can customise easily which type of players you wish to include in your search.
Alternatively, you can ask your assistant to automatically select the squad by
clicking on the ‘Auto select squad' button on the squad panel. You can also
quickly clear the current squad by clicking on the ‘Clear Squad’ button. Once you
are happy with your squad choice, returning to the news item and confirming the
squad will allow you to continue with the game.
Central contracts
In addition to selecting squads, it will be your responsibility to choose the players
who will be centrally contracted to your national board. Northern hemisphere
nations will choose these in April, whereas southern hemisphere nations will
select these in October.
Note: Some countries do not utilise a central contracts system.
If a player is centrally contracted to you it gives you ultimate control of the player.
You can choose to either rest the player or allow them to take part in domestic
cricket with their club side.
Failure to balance this correctly could result in unfit players turning up for
international matches!
Qualifying for Tournaments
If you are lucky enough to be coaching one of the ten leading nations in cricket,
then you will automatically be included in a vast tours program which will see you
host and visit the other nine leading nations over a period of four years.
If you are one of the top eight ranked One Day International playing countries
then you will qualify for the Champions Trophy. Which is a short international
tournament taking place every four years.
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If you are one of the top ten One Day International playing countries then you will
also qualify for both the World Cup and T20 World Cup automatically. These
occur every four and two years respectively.
Lower Rankings Nations – Those Outside the Test Championship
Cricket Coach 2009 gives you the opportunity to coach many minor cricketing
nations. These nations are not eligible at the start of the game to play Test match
cricket. They do however have competitions through which they can earn the
right to eventually play Test match cricket.
All lower ranked nations play in the World Cricket League. This is a six division
league based competition with promotion and relegation. The top two teams in
divisions 2-6 get promoted up a division. Whilst the bottom two teams divisions 15 get relegated to the division below them.
These leagues are played once each season, so twice a year. Each side plays all
the other sides once.
The top two sides in World Cricket League Division One qualify for the World T20
competition should that be scheduled to take during the next season. The top
four sides in World Cricket League Division One and the top two sides in World
Cricket League Division Two qualify for the World Cup should that be scheduled
to take place during the next season.
Earning Test Match Status
Whilst the World Cricket League structure allows a side to qualify for the major
one day international tournaments the Intercontinental Cup offers a country the
chance to enter the top ten elite of world cricket.
By winning the Intercontinental Cup three years in a row a country will earn the
right to play test match cricket. Not only this but they will also enter the top ten
One Day International elite as well. They will replace the country bottom of the
Test Championship table at the end of the season during which they won their
third consecutive Intercontinental Cup trophy.
Once Test Match status has been earnt however further work must be done to
protect it. As the next side to win three consecutive Intercontinental Cup's will
again gain test status at the expense of the bottom side in the Test
Championship. Any countries gaining test match status need to work hard in the
18 months of guaranteed elite cricket to get themselves off the bottom of the Test
Championship table.
The Intercontinental Shield competition sits below the Intercontinental Cup. The
top two in the Intercontinental Shield each season get promoted to the
Intercontinental Cup, the bottom two teams in the Intercontinental Cup get
relegated to the Intercontinental Shield. The bottom team in the Intercontinental
Shield gets removed from the competition, replaced by the highest ranked team
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in the World Cricket League structure not currently playing Test cricket or in the
Intercontinental Cup or Intercontinental Shield.
Good performances in these competitions, including getting promoted and
earning Test Match status will result in an increase in interest in cricket in that
country. This over time will lead to better players coming through the youth
systems, and ultimately more talented players playing for these teams.
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Picking your team
One of your key duties as a cricket coach is to pick the side that will play in each
game. You have free reign to pick whatever side you decide for each game from
the selection. Occasionally some players will be unavailable, you will be told via
icons on the squad screen why each player is unavailable.
It is possible to pick your team at any point during the game. You do not need to
wait until a match to adjust your team. Your latest team selection is always
saved, so you don't need to pick the team at the start of every game, just make
whatever changes you wish to make.
On the right hand side of the screen is your team sheet. On the left hand side of
the screen is a list of your players. To move a player into the team click on his
name and 'drag' your mouse over to the slot in the team sheet where you wish
him to bat. Whilst doing this you need to keep your left mouse button pressed
down.
You can change the order of players in your team sheet by clicking and dragging
players to different positions in the team sheet.
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Setting your captain, opening bowlers, and wicket keeper.
Certain players in your team have important roles. The captain leads your team
on the field, this should be a senior member of your team. The wicket keeper
stands behind the stumps and needs to be skillful otherwise he may drop
potential catches or let the ball fly past him too much. The opening bowlers are
the bowlers who bowl at the very beginning on an innings. They bowl overs 1 &
2. Usually this will be your best two pace bowlers.
To assign any of these jobs to a player on your team sheet click the right mouse
button on the name of the player. A menu will appear from which you can set a
role.
Next Fixture Information
In the bottom right hand corner of the screen, you are presented with details of
the next scheduled fixture (should there be one). A weather forecast is available
seven days before the fixture is due to commence and a detailed pitch report is
available on the day of the match.
Multiple Lineups (Club sides only)
Through the course of a season your side will play in a variety of different
competitions. The competitions you play in will either be first class (4 days, 2
innings per side), one day cricket (one innings each, usually 50 overs) or the new
T20 cricket (20 overs per side, one innings).
You have a different team sheet for each format of cricket. This allows you to
pick a team suited to first class cricket and have that stored ready for your first
class games, whilst at the same time having a different side chosen for the
limited overs formats of the game. To view each team sheet click on the format
buttons on the left hand side of your screen.
Picking your team – how to decide
Choosing your team is one of the key tasks that you have as a coach in Cricket
Coach 2009. There are no perfect team selections, each team selection will have
it's advantages and disadvantages.
Thankfully Cricket Coach 2009 presents you with a huge array of information that
can be used when making decisions about who should play in your next match.
Batting / Bowling Skills
Each player has a series of current skill ratings noted down for your benefit by
your coaching staff. These rate the players in various areas.
Batting Skills:
Front – Skill when executing front footed shots.
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Back – Skill when executing shots off the back foot
Off – Skill when executing shots to the offside (right for a right handed batsmen
facing the bowler)
On – Skill when executing shots to the onside (left for a right handed batsmen
facing the bowler)
Pace – vs Pace bowling. Skill when facing pace bowling.
Spin – vs Spin Bowling. Skill when facing slow/spin bowling.
Speed – scoring speed. How fast roughly are they at keeping the scoring rate
going.
Note: The actual skill value used in the game is a combination of all these
values, weighted depending on the actual shot executed. e.g. An upper cut off
the back foot would use a skill value created by taking a large chunk of the back
foot skill and off side skill, as well as pace skill if it was against a pace bowler.
Other skills values in this case wouldn't be used as much. For a sweep to a
spinner the front foot, on side, vs spin skill values would be used to create a
batsmen skill value.
Bowling Skills
Arm – Do they bowl with the left arm or right arm?
Classification – What type of bowler are they?
Fast – The fastest bowlers out there, 85mph+
Fast Medium – Very fast, but not quite the fastest
Medium Fast – Good paced, but get wickets from swing rather than
outright pace
Medium – These bowlers take the pace off the ball, usually with lots of
variations to confuse the batsmen.
Slow – Slower bowlers who look to vary the pace and take the pace off the
ball to make scoring tricky.
Off Spin – Off spinners
Leg Spin – Leg spinners
Skill – Bowling skill. How smart are they when bowling, can they outfox a
batsman? A high skill value will get more wickets, a low skill value will result in
the bowler bowling a lot of poor balls that don't go where they were intended.
Cons – Consistency. How consistent is this bowler at executing the bowl plans
given to him. Is he able to stick to them, or does he fail to keep to a plan.
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Vari – Variation. How much variation is there in his bowling? Getting a good
batsman out will be easier if the bowler is both skillful and has a lot of variety to
his bowling. A poor bowler with a low skill but reasonable variety might still cause
problems for some weaker batsmen.
Mov – Movement. How much swing/seam/spin does this bowler get from an
average wicket? The very best spin/swing bowlers have high values here.
Meaning they are able to get considerable movement from an otherwise benign
surface. Bowlers with lower movement values will need pitches that give
considerable help to the bowlers to get an amount of movement to unsettle a
batsman.
Note: All these values are out of 100. With 100 being good, and 0 being awful.
Somewhere around 50 is competent. 85+ is world class, 70+ is good for a
professional playing domestic cricket.
In addition to information about a players skills you also have information about
their usual batting position and their current form in both batting and bowling.
This can be found on the 'Basic' view'.
To view match statistics from a players entire career you can select either
'Career Batting/Fielding' or 'Career Bowling' from the view dropdown menu.
Similar data but for just the current season is available from the 'Season
Batting/Fielding' and 'Season Bowling' views.
In addition when viewing career or season data you can adjust what format of the
game these statistics relate to by changing the Format dropdown menu.
Finally all of this data can be sorted in a variety of different ways by adjusting the
'Sort' dropdown menu.
To view more in depth information about a player click using the left mouse
button on any player on your squad list on the left. This will take you to that
players profile page.
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During the season icons may appear alongside players in your squad list. Here is
a brief explanation of their meanings:
Centrally contracted – the player is centrally contracted to his national board
and is currently unavailable for selection.
Contract running out – this player’s contract is due to run out at the end of the
current transfer period.
Overseas player – this player is one of the team’s overseas players. Depending
upon local rulings, selecting this player might result in the team having to pay a
penalty to the national board.
Injured – this player is currently injured and unavailable for selection.
On international duty – this player is currently away on international duty for his
national side and is unavailable for selection.
Transferred – this player is already transferred and will be leaving the club at the
end of the current transfer period.
Playing in the ISL - this player is playing in the Indian T20 franchise competition
and thus is currently not available to play.
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Playing a Match
As you proceed through the game it will not be long before your first match is
upon you. Before a match you will be presented with the ‘Today’s fixtures’
screen. This will detail the day’s fixtures.
In Cricket Coach 2009, if a game is played over several days, you play each day
individually – in other words at the close of play, you leave the match screen and
return to the other managerial screens until the following morning. Pressing
continue will take you to the tactics screen. For instructions on how to use the
tactics screen, view the section on ‘Picking your starting line-up’ earlier in this
manual.
Once you have selected your team, press the ‘continue’ button to proceed to the
match preview screen.
You will be presented with the starting line-ups and match conditions. It is here
that the toss takes place. You will be asked to either choose ‘heads’ or ‘tails’. If
you are fortunate enough to win the toss, you must then elect to either bat or
bowl first. Once you have made your decision, press the relevant button and then
press the ‘continue’ button to move onto the match screen and begin playing the
match.
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The Match Screen – When controlling the batting team
Bowl:
This will continue the simulation. If you are playing ball by ball or over by over
then the simulation is moved on until the end of the next ball or over. The
simulation will stop if a major incident has taken place.
The simulation will automatically show you a replay of the ball if it matches the
criteria set out in the options dialog. For example if you have 'Show Wickets' set
in the options dialog and the next ball is a wicket then you will be shown the
highlight.
If a ball doesn't match your highlights settings but you still want to watch it then
you can be clicking on the ball outcome icon (for example to see the four
highlighted in the screenshot click your left mouse button on the four icon).
Autoplay:
Occasionally you will be short on time and will want to move more swiftly through
a match. By clicking the Autoplay button a dialog will appear giving you various
options. These are:
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For first class matches and Test Matches
End of Day: Autoplay until end of the current day
End of Innings: Autoplay until the end of the current innings (or day)
End of Session: Autoplay until the end of the current session
Next Wicket: Autoplay until the next wicket
For limited overs matches
End of Match: Autoplay until the end of the match
End of Innings: Autoplay until the end of the current innings
Last 10 overs/Last 30 runs: Autoplay until the last 10 overs (or 30 to win)
Next Wicket: Autoplay until the next wicket falls
Speed Selector:
The game can be played at various different speeds. Critically some speeds run
the game automatically, without you needing to press the bowl button each
ball/over. Other speeds require you to move the game on by clicking the bowl
button.
Manual Each Ball (play through the game ball by ball)
Manual Each Over (play through the game over by over)
AUTO: Slow (play automatically but at a very slow pace)
AUTO: Normal (automatic and a little faster than slow)
AUTO: Swift (automatic and quite a bit faster than normal)
AUTO: Faster (automatic and fast)
AUTO: Pretty Quick (automatic and very fast)
AUTO: Fast (automatic and so quick that overs will fly by)
AUTO: Manic (the fastest speed setting, extremely quick)
Note: Of course if you wish to immediately move to the end of the match/day you
can do so by using the autoplay option.
Other Options.
Series Screen / Main Menu: This button takes you back to the main menu in the
career mode, or the series screen when playing the International Series mode.
You will return to the game where you left it when you click on Continue from
those screens.
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Options: This launches a dialog from which you can choose various game
options. Options for determining what balls are shown as highlights when moving
through a game are available, plus whether the score should be shown in the
traditional English style of 350/3 or the Australian style of 3/350.
Take Power Play: When a batting power play is available you can click this
button to take it. A batting power play is a series of overs where the fielding team
is restricted in where they can place fielders. Typically a batting power play will
help the batting team by making boundaries easier to score. Batting power plays
only occur in some one day matches, they do not occur in first class/test
matches.
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The Match Screen – When controlling the bowling team
The speed controls, autoplay dialog and options settings are identical to when
playing as the batting team.
Bowl plan selector
Your bowlers attempt to bowl to a plan. A plan comprises of a field setting, plus a
target area to bowl to, and what side of the non-strikers wicket the bowler will run
up past.
Different bowl plans are used at different points in a game of cricket. One bowl
plan might be suitable for attacking a new batsman in a test match, whereas
another bowl plan might be suitable for containing a side in the latter stages of a
one day match.
Cricket Coach 2009 comes complete with a set of bowl plans for each format of
the game which you can use. You can also create your own, either from scratch
or by modifying an existing bowl plan.
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Cricket Coach 2009 sorts the default bowl plans by order of aggressiveness.
Thus if you want your team to attack and attempt to take wickets, they you will
want to use an attacking bowl plan. If you wish to defend and slow the scoring of
runs then you will want a defensive bowl plan.
To move to a more attacking bowl plan click on the button with the right arrow
(highlighted with a red box on the screenshot).
To move to a more defensive bowl plan click on the < buttons.
Note: Your user created bowl plans are listed after the default bowl plans and are
not sorted by aggressiveness.
You will also notice that you have different bowl plans selected for each bowler,
and for each batsmen that bowler will bowl to. This allows you to uniquely target
each batsmen (and his weaknesses) just like captains do in real life cricket.
Changing a bowler
Click the 'Change Bowler' button to change your bowler. Note you can only do
this at the end of a completed over.
Click on the name of the bowler you wish to bowl next.
Note: In one day matches there is a limit to the number of overs a bowler can
bowl. If a bowler has already bowled this maximum number of overs then he
cannot bowl again.
Note: Your wicket keeper cannot bowl.
Note: No bowler can bowl two successive overs.
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Match Screen – Choosing What Data to view
It is possible to split the match screen into two parts. The top half either shows a
scorecard or it shows a brief overview of the current innings. The bottom half of
the screen shows more detailed information.
Top Half Data
When moving through a match you can choose to be shown information on the
current innings in one of two ways.
Overview:
This is the default view. It shows an overview of the current innings in the style of
a traditional cricket scoreboard. It gives you all the critical information without
filling your screen with data.
Scorecard View:
This view shows an innings scorecard. You can choose which scorecard to view
by clicking on the yellow scores at the top of the screen. Usually you will want to
see the current innings scorecard (click 'View Detailed Card'), but it is possible to
check back at earlier innings to remind yourself how they went.
Bottom Half Data
Recent Overs
This is the default view and shows at a glance the outcome of each ball in the
most recent overs. Click on a ball icon to watch that ball in the highlights match
view.
Recent Balls
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This shows individual balls that have been bowled during this innings. Use the
scroll bar to view an earlier part of the innings. Click on the information about a
ball to watch that ball again.
Playing Conditions
Here you can see at a glance the current conditions at the ground. Data shown
includes information about the bounce of the pitch plus the weather and ball
conditions. In the second innings of one day matches the current DL par score is
shown. This is the score that the second team must be at currently to gain a tie
should the match be abandoned at this point. One ahead of this is needed to win
the game.
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Current Partnership
This shows information about the current partnership. These are the two
batsmen currently at the crease. The overall stats are for these batsmen during
their entire innings. Contribution is just the runs and balls stats whilst this
partnership has been alive.
Partnerships/Fall of wickets
This shows each partnership during this innings. From here you can see which
partnerships were successful and which weren't. It's also possible to see how
many overs each partnership took up, and how many minutes the partnership
lasted for. RPO is the runs per over for that partnership.
Runs each over Manhattan chart (Limited Overs Matches Only)
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Here each innings is shown with bars rising upwards showing how many runs
were scored off each over in the game. These rising bars look similar to a city
skyline, leading to the name 'Manhatten chart'.
Run Rate Worm (Limited Overs Matches Only)
This shows the current run rate achieved by each team at each point of the two
innings. This chart (known as a worm for obvious reasons) can be used to see
how a team has accelerated at various point of it's innings.
Cumulative Score Chart
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This shows how a team's score in an innings has increased over the course of
the innings. The Y axis shows the score, plotted against the overs gone on the X
axis.
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Basic Tactics and Strategy
Batting
Batting in Cricket Coach 2009 is a case of judging how well you believe your
batsmen are coping out in the middle, then giving them orders that will result in a
large amount of runs being scored, for the loss of as few wickets as possible!
Usually in a four or five day match you will want to give your batsmen a few overs
to 'get their eye in'. Set them at a slightly defensive aggression level until their
confidence level (the green boxes next to their name) are 2 or 3. Then as their
innings builds gradually increase their aggression. Unless the match situation
demands then going too aggressive in a four or five day match doesn't benefit
you in the long term. As the increased scoring rate will be rendered pointless if
you lose quick wickets.
In limited overs matches however you need to be ready to adjust the batting
aggression sliders far more often. If a partnership is building and a weaker
bowler comes on then you need to be ready (and courageous enough) to attack
that bowler. The matches might only be decided by a run or two, so a few big
overs could easily be match winning ones.
Towards the end of an innings you will want to move to at least an aggression
setting of 7 out of 10. You don't get any benefit of having batsmen left at the end
in one day matches, so ensure you give it everything you have, whilst at the
same time making sure you actually bat out the overs available to you.
Warning: However be very careful about going on all out attack with anyone
other than a very confident batsmen. Weaker batsmen who have only just come
in will struggle when told to play all out attack. They are likely to either completely
miss the ball (and score no runs), or get out (and lose you a wicket).
Note: The batsman in yellow on the left hand side of your screen is the batsmen
who is going to face the next ball bowled.
Note: Use the left and right arrow button to increase and decrease the
aggression setting for a batsman. The 'lock aggression' option adjusts the
batsman's aggression setting against both current bowlers, saving you the
hassle of changing both values.
Note: The five red/green squares next to each current bowler on the tactics panel
outline how confident the batsman in question is against that particular bowler. A
confident batsman will be more capable of hitting out for quick runs or defending
his wicket.
Clicking on the batsman’s name in the tactics panel will take you to a screen with
more detailed information about their current tactics as well as their current
innings and career statistics.
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Bowling
Bowling in Cricket Coach 2009 revolves around choosing suitable bowlers and
giving orders to those bowlers that you have chosen. You have full control over
who is handed the ball at the start of each over, so it is up to you to make the
best decisions possible.
A bowler performs better when he has maximum energy. A bowlers energy bar
replenishes when he is given a rest from bowler, and when he is indoors during a
luncheon or tea break, and overnight in a multi-day game.
Controlling Bowling Aggression
Bowling tactics are dictated by selecting a pre-defined bowl plan. This plan
effectively controls both how aggressive the field is, and how aggressive the
bowler should actually bowl. To alter the current bowl plan to a batsman click on
either the left or right arrow buttons for the relevant bowl plan on the left hand
side of the screen.
Clicking on the bowler’s name in the tactics panel will show you more specific
information about the current bowl plans chosen, as well as detailed innings and
career statistics. It will also present you with the option of creating your own
bowling plans or editing existing ones.
Bowl plan editor
On this screen, you can create or edit an existing bowling plan. The screen
highlights the potential weaknesses of both batsman currently at the crease. It is
up to you to use your cricketing knowledge to decide the line, length and type of
delivery to bowl. For the even more adventurous cricket coach, it is also possible
to manually edit the field. To do this click the ‘edit field’ button and then simply
drag and drop the fielders into the desired positions.
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Advanced Tactics and Strategy
As you by now know basic cricket strategy goes something like this. Score
more runs that the opposition and you will win. You score more runs by
carefully ensuring your best batsmen bat for a long time before getting out.
You stop the opposition from scoring a lot of runs by getting your best
bowlers to bowl at their best batsmen and ideally get them out quickly.
That's the basics, this section discusses various tactical options that aren't
necessary to enjoy the game, but may well need to be executed very well
to win certain games.
Batting Declarations
Occasionally there comes a time when your batsmen are scoring so many runs
that you feel you really don’t need to add any more and you’d rather be using up
the time bowling to the opposition. During any non-limited overs match you can
opt to declare when batting – this closes your innings for good and you can’t
return to that innings later on.
Example Situations
Situation 1: You are batting against a weak side and are scoring heavily, you’re
650/4 at the end of day two. You feel life you could go on and score 1,000 or
more runs but your main goal is to win the game, and you can’t do that without
bowling out the other team twice. You realise that you have enough runs already,
and wish to spend the next two or three days attempting to bowl the opposition
out. You therefore declare the innings close and proceed to try and bowl the
opposition out twice.
Situation 2: You are batting in a rain-affected match that is going into the last
day, after posting 300 in your first innings you bowl the opposition out for 200.
You are now 100/1 in your second innings with just 90 overs to go in the game.
You feel that in reality you could bat all day and extend your lead but then the
game would end in a draw, so you decide to bat for a little longer until lunch,
extending your lead to 300. You then declare, thus putting the opposition in and
attempting to bowl them out, which is of course the only way you will win the
game. As you can see a carefully timed declaration can be the difference
between winning a match, and letting it fade out into a draw. As the coach it’s up
to you to decide whether to declare, and if you do declare, what the best point to
declare at is.
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Enforcing the follow-on when bowling
Sometimes when two sides are unevenly matched there comes a point when the
bowling side has dismissed the batting side for so few runs that they are far
enough behind to force the follow-on.
This can only happen after the second innings of a game, when forced to followon a team that has just been bowled out gets their second innings straight after
their first one.
Example Situation
Your team scores 400 runs in the first innings, you then bowl the opposition out
for 150, therefore you lead by 250 runs. We then look at the follow-on amount,
this can very from competition to competition, in Test matches this figure is 200,
in most domestic cricket competitions this figure is 150. When the side batting
first leads by the follow-on figure or more after the first innings, they can then
‘enforce’ the follow-on. The side batting second then starts their second innings;
straight after their first innings is complete, presuming the match isn’t already
over. Note: it isn’t compulsory to enforce the follow on, the fielding side can
decide not to enforce for reasons such as the state of the pitch, or the fact their
bowlers are tired.
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The End
Thankyou for reading this manual. If you have any more questions then please
feel free to contact the development team through the website listed below. It is
our aim to be the guardians of the greatest cricket simulation in the world. With
your help we can ensure we are the leading cricket game developers for many
years to come. If you have any suggestions or feedback then we would love to
hear from you.
Credits
Oli Norwell
Game Design, Programming, Manual
Thanks to our small team of testers and all those who have contributed feedback
through our forum. Without your help this game could not exist in its current form.
Visit the forums at www.cricketcoachgame.com and join our community of
Cricket Coach 2009 fans!
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